Insurance Officials Offer Helpful Tips About Storm Damage

    OCTOBER 30, 2012- Sandy is believed to have caused thousands upon thousands of dollars of damage for renters and homeowners.

    Emergency response officials say Erie County was lucky as the damages here have been minimal.

    They tell us they had reports of power lines down and a couple reports of trees and poles falling into houses.

    Officials say trees were down on the 600 block of East 34^th Street and the 300 block of West 8^th Street. 

    In such instances Erie Insurance officials recommend checking your insurance policy and seeing what exactly is covered.    

    They say standard homeowners insurance is completely separate from flood insurance.

    You must purchase flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program as insurance companies do not typically sell it.

    Also, it takes typically a 30 day period before flood insurance goes into effect.

    They also recommend not depending on federal disaster assistance.

    Insurance officials say the only time that can be claimed is when the president makes an official statement declaring disaster.

    Erie Insurance officials tell us they didn't have to bring extra help here in Erie to aid with claims.

 They did have to bring in extra help for their branches throughout the u.s.